Method for continuous wire drawing and annealing



March 9, 1937.-

SoAzMom I J. R. M KEAN ET AL METHOD FOR CONTINUOUS WIRE DRAWING AND ANNEALING Original Filed July 2 8 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 III A TORNEY March 9, 1937. J. R. MCKEAN ET AL 2,073,283

METHOD FOR CONTINUOUS WIRE DRAWING AND ANNEALING Original Filed July 28, 19:53 2" Sheets-Sheet 2 A TTORNEY Patented Mar. 9, 1937 PATENT OFFICE METHOD FOR CONTINUOUS WIRE DRAW- IN G AND ANNEALING John R. McKean, Rumford, and Herbert S. Busey,

Providence, R. I., assignors to Kennecott Wire and Cable Company, a corporation of Rhode Island Original application July 28,- 1933, Serial No.

682,578. Divided and this application November 21, 1933, Serial No. 698,976

4 Claims.

This application is a division of our co-pending application Serial No. 682,578 filed July 28, 1933 for Continuous wire drawing and annealing.

Our present invention relates to the art of wire drawing, and has particular reference to an improved process for annealing drawn wire.

It has heretofore been the practice, in wire drawing, to pass the wire through the drawing blocks to a spooling device, the filled spool then being conveyed to the annealing furnace for the bright annealing of drawn wire which will not interrupt the manufacturing process and which is an integral part of thewire finishing operation.

The use of a separate annealing furnace has also increased the tendency to oxidation, and

has increased the expense on account of the additional handling necessary. It is an additional object of our invention to provide an annealing furnace of small size, specifically adapted for 5 annealing wire, the novel furnace including a simple arrangement for cooling the annealed wire before the wire contacts the atmosphere.

To this end, we have devised an annealing apparatus of small dimensions which may be detachably secured to existing wire drawing machines, and which is positioned between the wire drawing blocks and the spooling device, this apparatus continuously receivin the drawn wire as it leaves the blocks, annealing the drawn wire,

5 and cooling the drawn wire immediately after annealing and before it contacts the atmosphere so as to prevent oxidation, the annealed cooled wire then passing directly to the spooling device. The cooling is preferably obtained by directing a stream of cooling water on the annealed wire,

this cooling generating a curtain of steam to further exclude outside air.

Instead of utilizing external means for heat ing the annealing chamber, we havedevised a novel arrangement utilizing a flame obtained by the combustion of a combustible material and an oxygen supplying material, such as illuminating gas and air, as the annealing medium, and have provided an elongated annealing chamber to house the flame and to conserve the annealing heat. The flame may be readily regulated to properly anneal wires of difierent diameter, and the direct contact of the flame with the wire ensures a direct application of the annealing hea and eliminates radiation losses.

To further reduce manufacturing expense, we provide a control for the annealing gas and air that is dependent uponthe operation of the wire drawing machine, thus eliminating all wastage of fuel and air; burning and excessive heating of thewire when starting and stopping is also prevented. 4

An additional feature of novelty resides in the provisions of safety means for preventing premature ignition and back fire, the preferred protection including a delayed flow for the air and a mixing construction which ensures a completely ignitible mixture of the flame ingredients and positively projects the flame into the annealing chamber.

With the above objects and other advantageous features in view, our invention consists of a novel method of operation as more fully described in the detailed description following, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and more specifically defined in the claims appended thereto.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, showing the general arrangement of the continuous wire drawing and annealing apparatus, and

Fig. 2 is a detailed section through the novel annealing, chamber.

Referring to the drawings; the wire drawing block I0 is of standard construction and in the embodiment shown is the finished wire drawing block; the wire W passes over the usual traversing guide pulley II to the spooling apparatus l2. An annealing apparatus i3 is positioned between the block l0 and the spooling apparatus l2, as shown inFlg. 1, a suitable securing means including brackets l4 and I5 for receiving a bearing standard 16 on which the annealing apparatus l3 may be detachably secured.

The novel annealing apparatus includes an annealing chamber I! which is formed as an elongated tube, the rear portion being constructed as a burner l8 which is supplied with a combustible gas, such as illuminating gas, hydrogen, acetylene and the like through a valve controlled gas inletpipe l9 which conducts the gas to an annular chamber 20 .communicating with a forwardly directed annular gas nozzle 2|; air is supplied through an air inlet pipe 22 which communicates with a circular air inlet chamber 23 terminating in a forwardly directed annular nozzle 24, the rear end of the burner having an opening 25 therethrough, preferably conical, for receiving the finished wire W from the block 10.

It will be noted that the wall 26 between the nozzles is inclined, whereby the conical sheet of gas is projected into and through the conical sheet of air to thoroughly mix in the chamber 21, and is compressed by the inclined wall 28 to produce a smooth, completely burning jet or flame. The forward direction of the gas and air nozzles thus ensure a uniformly combustible mixture in the annealing chamber, with no back fire, as the burner proper is completely filled with slidably received in the upper portion of a cooling chamber 29, in which a grooved pulley 30 is rotatably mounted, the wire being wound around this pulley and exiting through an opening 3| in the form of an elongated slot in the front wall of the cooling chamber to engage the traversing guide pulley ii. The pulley 30 is substantially submerged in water as shown in Fig. 1, the water outflowing through a valve controlled outflow 32 to waste and also passing through the opening 3| into an overflow chamber 33 which in turn communicates with the outflow 32. The sliding adjustment of the annealing chamber permits a control of the length of flame to properly anneal wire of different material and of different crossseotional area, which supplements and is in addition to control of the speed of wire travel.

A valve controlled cold fluid inlet 34 is mounted in the upper wall of the cooling chamber 29 and has a nozzle 35 positioned to direct a stream of cooling fluid on the annealed wire at the point where the annealed wire passes out of the annealing flame, the cold fluid jet thus cooling the annealed wire, preventing contact of the atmosphere with the annealed wire, and serving to bring a constant supply of fresh cold fluid to the cooling chamber. The impact of the cold fluid on the hot annealed wire generates vapor under slight pressure, which completely fills the cooling chamber and prevents entry therein of the atmospheric air. A splash plate or baiile 36 is preferably positioned adjacent the slot 3|. The preferred fluid is water, but other cooling fluids adapted to reduce the temperature of the annealed wire below the oxidation temperature may be used.

The control of gas and air to the burner 18 is preferably subordinated to the wire drawing operation; the main line for the main motor controls 31 and 38 is therefore connected to a line leading to a solenoid coil 39 which operates the gas valve 40 through a lever system 4|, and through an adjustable tension spring lever arrangement 42 operates the air valve 43, the lever system 4! having a manually adjustable weight for regulating the action of the solenoid coil. It is thus seen that the gas supply is first opened, and the air supply is delayed, thus preventing formation of an explosive mixture in the burner. If

desired, a mercury type delayed action solenoid may be used for controlling the air valve.

The operation of the novel annealing arrangement may now be described: The wire W passes from the finishing drawing block In directly through the burner and through the flame in the annealing chamber, which flame completely envelops the wire and properly anneals it; just before the wire passes out from the annealing flame, it is cooled by the cooling jet of cold" water, thus immediately reducing the wire temperature below the oxidation point and ensuring a bright finish, and is passed around the cooling pulley 30 to .complete the cooling operation; the wire then passes over the traverse guide pulley I l and is wound upon a spool in the spooling device 12.

It is thus evident that the wire passes continuously from the drawing blocks through the annealing arrangement and to the spooling reel, the wire being annealed in a neutral or a reducing flame and being cooled before it can contact with the atmosphere. It is further evident that the annealing furnace is simple in construction, is readily attached to existing wire drawing installations, is operated only when wire is being drawn, is inexpensive in use, and produces a high annealing temperature with a low fuel consumption.

Although the above description describes a specific structural embodiment of our invention,

1. In a process for annealing wire, the steps of passing wire through an annealing flame, enveloping the annealed wire as it emerges from the flame in an atmosphere containing combusted gases and water vapor and from which at mospheric air is excluded, and cooling the annealed wire while it is in the enveloping atmosphere.

2. In a process for annealing wire, the steps of passing wire centrally through an annealing flame in the direction of the length of the flame, enveloping the annealed wire as it emerges from the flame in an atmosphere containing combustion gases and water vapor and from which atmospheric air is excluded, and cooling the annealed wire while it is in the enveloping atmosphere.

3. In a process for annealing wire, the steps of passing wire through an annealing flame, enveloping the annealed wire as it emerges from the flame in an atmosphere containing combusted gases andwater vapor and from which atmospheric air is excluded, and cooling the annealed wire as it enters the enveloping atmosphere.

.4. In a process for annealing wire, the steps of passing wire centrally through an annealing flame in the direction of the length of the flame, enveloping the annealed wire as it emerges from the flame in an atmosphere containing combusted gases and water vapor and from which atmospheric air is excluded, and cooling the annealed wire as it enters the enveloping atmosphere.

JOHN R. McKEAN. HERBERT S. BUSEY. 

